Course Code:18EC2112

Course Title: Electro Magnetic fields and

Applications (EMA)
CO4-Topic: EMI/ EMC

Presented by
EMA Course Team,
(II/IV B.Tech)
Department of ECE,
KLEF
 Contents

 Introduction to EMI, EMC, EMS

 Types of EMI

 Sources of EMI

 EMI Testing Methods

 Design Methods for EMC

 Introduction to EMI, EMC & EMS
EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) is defined as the degradation in the
performance of a device, or an equipment or a system caused by an
electromagnetic Disturbance.
EMC (Electro Magnetic Compatibility) is defined as the ability of electronic
and communication equipment to be able to operate satisfactorily in the
presence of interference and not be a source of interference to nearby
equipment.
EMS (Electro Magnetic Susceptibility) is the capability of a device to
respond to EMI.
RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) is the degradation in the reception of a
wanted signal caused by radio frequency disturbance i.e; Electromagnetic
Disturbance having the components in radio frequency range.
 Examples for EMI-Aircraft Navigation

Why the aeroplane crew say to switch off the

mobile phone and Laptops?
Reason: The radiation emitted by your phone
or Laptop will disturb the aeroplane’s high
frequency operating communication network
equipment’s i.e; while landing or takeoff the
aeroplane will send signal to RADAR, that
signal will be interrupted due to the noise
generated by your mobile phone.
Mechanisms of EMI
 Basic types of EMI

Intra-EMI:
EMI is said to be intra-EMI if the functional characteristics of one module
within an electronic equipment or system is disturbed due to EMI from
another module.

Inter-EMI:
EMI is said to be inter-EMI if the functional characteristics of one
equipment is disturbed due to EMI generated by another equipment.
Sources of EMI

Sources of EMI

Natural Sources Man-made Sources

Celestial/ Extra
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Sources
Sources
 Sources of EMI-Contd..

Man made Source is defined as the EMI which is generated by various

electrical, electronic equipment and appliances.
Natural Sources include celestial sources- sun, stars... and terrestrial
sources- atmospherics, lightning, thunderstorms and electrostatic Discharge.

Celestial Electromagnetic Noise- Celestial bodies like sun, stars are at very
high temperature. The electromagnetic radiation from these bodies can be
caused due to the random motion of charged ions resulting from thermal
ionization at very high temperatures.
 Sources of EMI-Contd..
Terrestrial Electromagnetic Noise- Strong Sources of atmospheric noise are
Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) and Lightning.
ESD is a natural phenomenon in which accumulated static electric charges
are discharged.
Lightning occurs as a result of electric discharge in the atmosphere from a
charge-bearing cloud. Clouds capture charges from atmosphere and due to
this charge accumulation clouds acquire high potential w.r.t GND. When the
field intensity in a cloud exceeds the breakdown level, there will be electric
discharge. This discharge can takes place from Cloud-to-Ground as well as
from Cloud-to-Cloud.
The following figure gives a list of several sources of Electromagnetic
interference.
EMI/ EMC Testing Methods
Electromagnetic
Compatibility

Emissions Immunity

Radiated Conducted Continuous Transient

E-Field Continuous

H-Field Discontinuous
 If the noise signal is transmitted
through air then it is Radiative

If the noise signal is transmitted

through wires then it is Conductive
Radiated Emissions Test Setup
 Radiated Emission-Contd..

 A Radiated Emission Pre-Compliance test setup includes your EUT

(Equipment Under Test), Ground plane, Antenna mounted on a tripod, a

pre-amplifier and a Spectrum analyzer as shown in Fig.

The radiation from the EUT is picked by the Antenna, with the output

amplified by a pre-Amplifier for better sensitivity.

The output of the pre-Amplifier is connected to the input of the Spectrum

analyzer to acquire the signal and analyze it with the help of the software.
Conducted Emissions Test Setup
 Conducted Emission-Contd..
 Conducted Emission tests are about testing that portion of
electromagnetic energy created by your device that is conducted onto the
power supply cord. The goal is to restrict the amount of interference your
device can couple back onto a power supply.
Conducted emissions testing is usually performed on devices that connect
to an AC power supply.
For conducted measurement instead of antennas we use a LISN (Line
Impedance Stabilization Network). A LISN is a low-pass filter which is
placed between an AC or DC power source and the DUT (Device Under
Test) to create a known impedance. It also isolates the unwanted RF signals
from the power source.
 EMI Control Techniques
Methods to eliminate EMI or Design Methods for EMC
The following are the effective methods to eliminate EMI-
Shielding
Grounding
Bonding
Filtering
Isolation
Separation and Orientation
Cable Design
Balancing
Antenna Polarization Control
 Shielding

 EMC Shielding is any method used to protect a sensitive signal from

external electromagnetic signals, or preventing a stronger signal from
leaking out and interfering with surrounding electronics.
 The main purpose of effective EMC Shielding is to prevent Electro-
Magnetic Interference (EMI) or Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from
impacting sensitive electronics.
 This is achieved by using a metallic screen to absorb the electromagnetic
interference that is being transmitted through the air.
 The metallic screen completely surrounds either the sensitive electronics
or the transmitting electronics.
 Shielding-Contd..

 The screen absorbs the transmitted signals, and causes a current within
the body of the screen. This current is absorbed by a ground connection, or a
virtual ground plane.
 By absorbing these transmitted signals before they reach the sensitive
circuitry, the protected signal is kept clean of electromagnetic interference,
maximising shielding effectiveness.
 It can cover PCB elements such as IC chips and active components, or
connectors and cables between PCBs.
 A good example is Smartphone.
 Shielding-Contd..
 The shielding of materials can be solids, screens and braids. They can be
in the form of boxes, partitions, cables and connector shields.
The quality of shielding is expressed in the form of Shielding
Effectiveness of the material.
Shielding-Contd..
 Grounding
Ground=Sink for electric charge
 The ground is nothing but some reference point.
 The ideal ground is characterized by zero potential and impedance.
 Grounding provides a conducting path b/w electronic devices and ground.
 Grounding concept for electronic circuits is used to--
 to avoid circulating EMI due to potential differences between
mutually connected electrical units of a system
 to provide an equi-potential reference plane
 to avoid low impedance ground loops
 to protect against shock hazards owing to high voltages appearance
ESD on a frame or box housing by harness damage
Effect of improper grounding
 System Level Grounding

There are three main System Grounding Methods-

Single-Point Grounding

Multi-Point Grounding

Hybrid Grounding
 Single-Point Grounding

Single-Point Grounding:
In Single-point Grounding Scheme, each subsystem is grounded to
separate ground planes.
These individual ground planes from each subsystem are finally connected
by the shortest path to the system ground point of reference potential.
Either Series or Parallel.
Operates the best at low frequencies i.e; below 1MHZ
Disadvantages:
Interconnecting Cables are used
Parasitic Capacitance exists between subsystems or equipment housing
Single-Point Grounding Configuration
 Multi-Point & Hybrid Grounding

Multi-Point Grounding:
In Single-point Grounding Scheme, every equipment is heavily bonded to
a soil ground conducting plane which is then earthed for safety purpose.
Minimizes the loop currents.
 Operates the best at high frequencies i.e; above 1MHZ.
Provides maximum EMI Suppression.
Hybrid Grounding:
In Hybrid Grounding Scheme, the ground appears as a Single-Point
Ground at Low frequencies and a Multi-Point Ground at High frequencies.
Multi-Point Grounding Configuration
 Filtering

Filtering is used to filter out conducted EMI.

The filtering effectiveness is expressed by Insertion loss (IL) which is
defined as-